Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. A multidisciplinary artist, among the most well-known within the contemporary art scene in the U.S, Mickalene Thomas has participated since 2003 in numerous national and international exhibitions. She is known for mixing references to art history, politics, and pop culture in order to create captivating paintings that are both figurative and non-figurative. Her work is rooted in a long study of art history and classical portraiture, into which she introduces a complex notion of femininity that questions beauty standards and aesthetic representation.